Web of Lies
by aphelion-orion
Summary: The truth is an ugly, ugly thing. [KH:CoM, LarxeneNaminé overtones, hints at other pairings]


**Timeline:** Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories  
**Rating:** PG-13 **  
****Pairing:** Larxene/Naminé, hints at various others **  
****Warnings:** Yuri; verbal... well, let's call it torture. This IS Larxene, after all.  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

**- **

**Web of Lies**

**- **

The crayon danced across the paper, almost faster than her eyes could follow, putting in the last details, the finishing touches. Naminé wrote in the title with a flourish—_The Promise_—and held the sketchbook up and away from her body, to examine her drawing critically.

A wild-haired boy with warm blue eyes was standing on a beach at sunset, his hand reaching out to a blond girl in a white dress. The girl was reaching out to him in turn, a charm in the shape of a yellow star resting in her outstretched palm like an offering. Both of them were smiling.

_Perfect_.

The mirror smile on Naminé's own lips died abruptly when she heard a soft whooshing noise behind her back, the sound of a dark corridor opening and closing.

"All alone today?" an all too familiar female voice rang out. "No one here to look at your pretty pictures with you?"

Naminé pressed her lips together and quickly pulled the sketchbook against her chest, hoping to conceal it from those cruel eyes. Larxene slowly stepped up behind her chair, her footsteps echoing on the marble floor. Naminé's grip on the pages tightened.

"Ah? What's that?" Larxene asked, leaning down to drape herself over the back of the chair. "You're not going to show me?" She just knew there was a fake pout forming on the woman's lips. "That's so mean."

"You know," Larxene was leaning down further, her voice taking on a menacing tone, "I don't recall you being so unreasonable." Her gloved fingers brushed over Naminé's cheek, and even through the leather, she could feel the long fingernails. "Do I have to remind you to listen to your elders? Perhaps... I have to go hurt something... _precious_?" A little more pressure, the nails pricking her cheek, and Naminé knew that Larxene was not talking about her.

Swallowing, she lowered the sketchbook to her knees.

"Good girl," the woman cooed, resting her chin on Naminé's shoulder, close enough that she could feel her breath. She grit her teeth, and willed herself not to close her eyes against the mockery she knew was to come.

"Oh! How _beautiful_!" Larxene exclaimed with completely overdone enthusiasm, hugging Naminé's shoulders. "The knight receives a token from his lady. How utterly _charming_."

"I-it's not like that..." Naminé whispered, and knew even as she uttered the words that it had been the wrong thing to do. Not responding to Larxene's jabs was essential if she wanted the torture to be over quickly.

"Oh? Isn't it, now?" Larxene asked in fake surprise, her eyes gleaming. "You're not going to reward the poor boy for his valuable services?" She smiled appreciatively. "I never would have pegged you as so heartless. Oh wait, you _are_!"

When Naminé shook her head just a bit, she chuckled. "That's not it? Oh, oh wait! I've got it now! 'The Promise'! Of _course_. That's even better! It's going to fit in beautifully with those other fibs. Looks so much like the _real _memory, too! You're a genius! Dare I say it—not even I could have come up with that."

The words made something in her ache, even though there should have been nothing, and Naminé suddenly could not bear to look at the picture anymore, instead directing her gaze to the wall, forcing herself to keep quiet. But Larxene was obviously not done enjoying herself.

"I just can't wait for you to finish. He's going to make such a pretty toy, like a life-size jumping jack. One yank from you, and he'll do absolutely anything! Won't that be beautiful?"

"No..." It was not like that, it wasn't. She was not going to make that into a memory, she was not that cruel. She just wanted him to find her, take her away from those people, to where they would both be safe. Safe and free.

"No?" Larxene prodded. "The way I see it, darling, you have no other choice. If you do not finish the job, he will find out. And then, he wouldn't be able to _stand the sight of you_."

Naminé bit her lip. Larxene's hand trailed down her arm and closed around the hand that was still holding the crayon, slowly guiding it towards the paper again. She desperately forced herself not to resist as Larxene made her press the crayon down, forced herself not to look. Let Larxene play her games; it didn't matter if she wanted to destroy her picture. She could always draw a new one.

"That's not what you want, right?" Larxene murmured, observing the movement of their joined hands on the paper. "You don't want him to hate you. You want him to _love _you. You're not that much different from the Heartless, really. You're after his heart, too. The only way you're going to get it, is if you make him believe he has already given it to you. Look at it this way: You're even doing him a favor!"

Naminé drew in a sharp breath. _A favor?_

"Mm, that's right. The way your hero is now, he is suffering! He desperately wants to remember the friend he thinks he forgot. He must be feeling such anguish, don't you think? _Him_, forgetting a friend? Oh, how horrible a person he is! How vile of him, not to value your friendship enough to remember!"

And that was true, wasn't it? Sora really was suffering. Naminé had always thought of her ability as painless, had never even considered...

"See?" Larxene's smile was a mockery of sympathy. "And besides, darling, you are forgetting one important thing: You're in the same boat as the rest of us, no matter how pure you think your motives are. You are just as self-serving. And you know why that is?"

Her other hand slowly slid down from Naminé's shoulder, coming to rest across her left breast. "Because that place..." Her fingers pressed down and Naminé shuddered, "...is as empty as the lies you're feeding him."

"And that's why you're going to be a good girl, isn't that right? You're going to be a good girl, and tell your pretty prince to help us. And then you will be able to reap the benefits, too. A real heart, isn't that what you want? To become a real princess? For your shining knight? Then, you can at least heap real _feelings _on top of the lies." Her voice was almost a whisper now. "Who knows, maybe if you drown him in them, he'll never even hear the little voice in his head, the one that is telling him how this is wrong, oh so terribly... _wrong_."

The sharp tang of blood was almost surprising, Naminé had not even been aware that she was biting her lip that hard. Larxene smiled against her ear, and let go of her hand.

The crayon slid from her numb fingers, clattering to the floor. The sharp sound, surprisingly loud in the stillness of the room, startled her into looking down, catching sight of what Larxene had done to her drawing.

Sora, smiling, and reaching out to the hand of a redheaded girl, who was offering him a charm of pink shells.

Naminé wanted to scream.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Larxene opening her mouth again—

Suddenly, there was a loud knock, and then the great doors on the left side of the room opened. Naminé's head swiveled to meet the replica's surprised eyes, which quickly narrowed.

"What are you doing?! Get away from Naminé." Bristling, the silver-haired boy took a step forward when Larxene failed to comply.

"What a pity," the woman taunted. "You're not the one she desperately wants to hear that from. Isn't that right... sweetheart?" And she breathed a provocative kiss to Naminé's cheek.

The replica growled, unsheathing his blade. "Get. Away."

"T'che." Larxene stared at him for a moment, before withdrawing from behind Naminé's back. "You know what? No wonder she doesn't want you, you're so boring. No fun at all when you're being that predictable."

Beneath her feet, a dark portal had swirled into existence, rising to envelop her, and before the boy could retort, she was gone.

None of them moved for a moment, the replica confused at the entire scene, Naminé still trying to get her bearings. Larxene might have been gone, but her voice was still ringing through her head, sweet and cloying like poisonous honey, uncovering all the petty things of which Naminé had tried to convince herself.

The replica took a few hesitant steps towards her. "Naminé, are you all right? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

_You might be able to erase __**his **__memories, but you can never erase your own._

"...Naminé?"

Naminé pressed her sketchbook against her chest, and stayed silent.

-

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**FIN**

**A/N:** Let it be said, lest somebody get the wrong idea, that I have absolutely nothing against Naminé. But I happen to like Larxene, who is a mean, manipulative bitch. XD Flames about how yuri is icky, or about how I R MEENZ TO TEH NAMI-CHAAAN, are redundant.

However, constructive reviews are highly encouraged, and appreciated! ♥


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